Do you have valuable data that is stored in an old, unsupported database, where it’s hard to query or maintain? By moving your data to Microsoft Access 2010, and then publishing the database to Access Services on Office 365, you can make your data accessible to all of your colleagues wherever they are. Perhaps more importantly, your database will be better able to grow as your needs change.
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Learn about Access and databases
A successful database project depends on good database design. If you’re new to Access, you might want to take some time to learn about the program and about databases in general. The following articles will help you get started:
Also, you might want to get an overview of Access web databases by reading the following article:
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Export the data from your old program
The next step is to get your data out of the program in which it is currently stored. The process will depend on the program, but by exploring the menus, you’ll hopefully come across an Export command. In the end, you want to export the data from the old program into a file format that Access can import. Look for menu commands that will export the data in one of the following formats:
- Text (*.txt)
- Comma-separated values (*.csv)
- Microsoft Excel (*.xls or *.xlsx)
These are some of the most common formats for exchanging data between programs; however, Access 2010 can also import XML, HTML, and dBase files.
If your old database contains multiple tables of data, you should export each one as separate file. Make sure to export all fields, especially ID fields, which are important for connecting related data across tables.
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Create a blank web database
After you have exported the data from your old program, you can import it into a new Access database. If you have an existing Access web database that you want to use, you can skip the steps in this section.
To create a new, blank database that will be compatible with Access Services, use the following procedure:
- Start Access 2010.
- Under Available Templates, click Blank web database.
- In the File Name box, type a name for the database file, and then click Create.
- When the new database opens, close the default Table1 that is displayed.
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Import the data into Access
In this step, you import the data files that you created earlier. The following links can help you get started:
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Add relationships, forms, and reports, and then publish
From this point, you can refer to the steps in the article Build an Access database to share on the Web to finish building your database and publish it to Access Services.
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Get more help
Every database presents unique challenges, and you will likely encounter questions that aren’t answered by the resources above. For more help, consult the following resources:
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More things you can do
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